


The Price of Freedom

by sangha



Series: The Price of Freedom [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: 2016 US Presidential Election, Bisexual Steve Rogers, But it became real, Coming Out, Filed under: Things that have probably been done before, Grumpy old man Bucky Barnes, M/M, News Media, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Politics, Steve Rogers endorses Nazi punching, Steve has a lot of opinions about current politics, This was supposed to be crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-09-20 03:11:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9472892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sangha/pseuds/sangha
Summary: Steve watched with a mixture of horror and indignation as the election results came in. It only went downhill from there. He loved this country, always had, but he was also acutely aware of its many, many shortcomings.---Or: Steve reacts to the US Presidential Election and the punching of Nazis.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know about you guys, but I feel like this past week has been a waking nightmare and I felt that Steve Rogers would have a lot of feelings about it. I wanted to write something specifically about the punching of Nazis and it was supposed to be crack-y, but turns out, I got a lot of pent up feelings and I dumped them all in this fic.
> 
> Spoiler alert: Steve Rogers has no sympathy to spare for (punched) Nazis.

Steve watched with a mixture of horror and indignation as the election results came in. It only went downhill from there. He loved this country, always had, but he was also acutely aware of its many, many shortcomings. 

He’d known growing up in a country that hated people like him - people who were sick and weak and, according to popular belief, not fit for procreating. He’d known when he wanted to put together his own elite team and had to fight tooth and nail to get Jones and Morita on it, even though the brass had no trouble accepting a Brit and a Frenchman on his team. He’d known when he realized he was in love with his best friend and that his country would spit him out if they knew.

But he also knew that this country of his contained the possibility for progress. He’d known that when he woke up in a country that, while still imperfect and deeply flawed, had changed in profound ways. This country _had_ progressed, even if they hadn’t yet fulfilled the promise on which America was built. 

And now, he was watching the country take more than a few steps back. 

It felt like a slap in the face. More so, Steve realized that America may not have progressed as much as he had previously thought. There were deep-seated feelings of resentment, hatred, and bigotry which now reared its ugly head once again. 

Perhaps worst of all, it was the exact same thing he’d been fighting against seventy years ago. It seemed surreal that actual nazis were allowed to spew their poison openly once again. He’d heard all of these arguments against immigrants and outsiders before. There was no merit to them then and there was no merit to them now. It was discouraging to realize that Americans hadn’t learned from the past. 

On November 9th, Steve received requests from several media outlets to comment on the election of Donald Trump. 

“Don’t get baited into saying things you haven’t thought through,” Natasha warned him when he agreed to do a press conference. 

“Says the woman who told the government to go fuck themselves,” Steve retorted, grinning. 

She smiled. “Who says I didn’t think that through?” 

The first question at the press conference already tested his resolve. It came from a CNN reporter, who asked, “Isn’t it your duty to support the President-Elect?”

Steve took a deep breath. “No, it’s not. My loyalty has always been with the people, specifically with those who need it most. I hope that the President-Elect will not act on his campaign promises, but my experience has taught me we can’t count on that. I stand with immigrants, LGBT people, muslims, jews, women, and anyone else who will be subjected to bullying if Mr. Trump follows through on his promises. Freedom is something we have to fight for. We can’t ever think we’re done because the second we become complacent, someone will move to take our freedom away.”

“What about christians who are bullied?” a Fox News reporter asked.

Steve smiled. He wasn’t stupid, he knew what this reporter was really getting at. “Christians have always been the majority in this country. I don’t think anyone has ever managed to systematically oppress christians based on their beliefs. If that day ever comes, I will stand with them, too.” He paused, saw the reporter open his mouth for a follow-up question, and decided to continue. “Let’s get one thing straight, though. Asking people to accept the rights of others to exist and to live freely in this country in whatever way they choose is _not_ bullying or oppression. It is basic human decency.” 

It took approximately two minutes for conservatives to denounce his name after that. He didn’t care. 

\---

Every cabinet pick was a fresh horror. And then there was Mike Pence, who revolted Steve.

“He’s from a different century, Buck,” Steve complained. 

“So are we,” Bucky replied.

“Ha ha, you know what I mean.” 

“Yeah. I know. He’s a piece of shit.” 

Steve was pacing up and down the room, while Bucky watched him from the couch, drinking a beer. “He wants to electrocute queer kids to cure them, I mean. Even psychiatrists in the ‘40s knew that was a terrible idea.” 

Bucky grinned, his eyes twinkling the way they did when he was up to something.

“What? What’s so funny?” Steve asked.

“Just think what he would say if he knew Captain America is a queer.” He took a swig from his beer bottle. “He’d implode.” 

Steve finally sat down. They’d talked about this before, making their relationship public, but it had always seemed like a distraction, somehow. Besides, Steve liked his private life to be private. Enough of it was public as it was. This was different, though. It might encourage others to know he’d stand by them, not just out of principle, but because he was one of them. And even better, it was a giant fuck you to Pence, just like Bucky said. “Would you be okay with that?” 

Bucky shrugged. “I don’t think ‘queer’ will be the worst thing people will have to say about me.”

Two days later, they were standing in a briefing room filled with press. None of them knew why they were there, but the air was buzzing with curiosity. 

“Good afternoon,” Steve began. “Thank you for coming today. You must be wondering why I called this meeting. The truth is, I have an announcement to make. These past few years, I have tried hard to keep my private life private, despite the best efforts of certain segments of the media. Though I happily devote myself to the good fight, there are some things I have felt should remain private. Still, given the current political climate and the hostility towards marginalized people in this country, there is one bit of information that I want to share with you now.” 

He took a deep breath. His hands were clammy. “I am bisexual. I have been in love with my best friend since 1934. I have been fortunate enough to find him again in this century and even more fortunate that he loves me back.” A murmur went through the room, but Steve ignored it resolutely. Bucky quietly slipped his hand in his. “We couldn’t express those feelings openly then, both of us trapped by fear in a society that would have punished us ruthlessly if we had expressed them. I refuse to be taken back to that time.” 

The room erupted in shouts as soon as he was done speaking, every reporter in the room trying to ask a question. Steve wasn’t planning on taking questions. He left the room, Bucky’s hand still firmly clasped in his own.

\---

The backlash was swift. Conservatives tried to find dirt on him by scouring sources on the War, trying to prove that he hadn’t been the great national icon he pretended to be. Steve didn’t really care. He never wanted to be an icon anyway. He just wanted to do the right thing. 

If anything, it only made him more determined to speak out as often as possible. 

So when CNN called him, asking him to respond to the footage of a Neo-Nazi getting punched in the face, he didn’t hesitate. He sat in on a panel discussing the use of violence.

“Shouldn’t we always denounce violence, no matter what?” one of the panelists suggested.

“You know you’re talking to the guy who became famous for knocking out Hitler over 200 times, right?” Steve quipped. “In all seriousness, I don’t usually advocate violence. I’d much rather reason with people. The problem is, fascism can’t be reasoned with, that’s why it’s a threat to freedom. We had to fight a long and arduous war to overcome it last time. We won’t win them over with words this time either. We have to draw a line in the sand somewhere. If Nazism isn’t that line, what is? Resist. Every step of the way. If that means the occasional Nazi gets punched in the face, I won’t lose any sleep over it.” 

When Steve came home, he found Bucky at the kitchen table, staring at his laptop screen. “They’re calling you a liberal cuck, whatever the fuck that means,” Bucky said. “I can’t keep up with kids these days.” 

Steve pulled up a chair next to him and leaned in for a kiss. “As long as you can keep up with me, we’re good.” 


End file.
